The power of negative threads....

There is a new topic in the world of sales and marketing -"viral Marketing". This is based on the idea that if somebody you know and trust recomends a product you are more likey to look at it or purchase it.

When you come to Bladeforums, you are interested in knives and will respect (mostly) the opinions of your fellow members. This is certainly the case for some of the longer, establised people who post here, these are the people who's names you recognise without thought (Ron@Sog or Razoredj for example).

There are documented cases of people being paid by companies to join forum/irc discusions. These people "place" messages about products with recommendations. The main area for this in Europe has been youth related products, music etc...

Perhaps we need a declaration of interest from people when they wish to make a positive or negative coment on a product (maybe not).

Anyway as a member of the Usual Suspects, I recommend that all of you buy as many Emerson Knives as your wallets will stand. Next months you can by Mayos and I will be back later to tell you what to buy the month after that. (for any makers interested in this service, I can be contacted by e-mail and my rates are suitable outragous.... :D )

Food for thought.

Regards,

Ed
 
Good Point Ed.

When I see the same folks post after post making the same comments sometimes I get the same impression as I do on negative posts. Great comments from an established groupie do not carry as much weight for me as great comments made by a first timer.

In the long term a good knife and/or a good maker and/or a good company are not good due to hype. I have learned to get a 10 foot pole when I see it (hype) in this industry and that pole has not failed me in the long run yet as far as the collecting (and in the past dealing) decisions made.
 
As a NEWBIE, I lurk and learn EVERYDAY. I try like hell NOT to post as it takes the time away from the real masters of the artof knife collecting. before I buy ANY knife, I study these Forums. Does one negative post effect my decision, NO, not at all. BUT does an entire thread that points out the faults of a particular knife/maker/dealer effect my decision. YOU BET, I WILL NOT buy it. Is it a bad move, who knows, but as a new kid with so much to learn, if the very talented people on these Boards have a problem, it is a very WISE move on my part NOT to buy the knife.....wolf
 
"...Is BF really that powerful?

...Do you base your decisions on just one single negative thread (or post)?"

Let me put my answer this way...

Mad Dog knives rock!
 
Not going to argue with you Steve. There are a lot of folks who I respect (including you) that love them.

I just choose to spend my money in other places and I do not feel that I am missing out on anything at all.
 
I know that I have been significantly impacted by things I've read here on the forums. I think for me it is both the identity/character of the poster, and the basic tone he/she uses if complaining. I pay a lot of attention to all positive comments, excepting those that spring up automatically whenever something critical is said. Guess I should say that I pay a lot of attention to gratuitous positive comments. Just like the thread I just read which had 2 posts about teh great service provided by Cold Steel.

I've changed my opinions significantly about Spydercos and Sebenzas since joining the forums. There is little doubt that I bought Spydercos, and in particular the Wegner based on posts by Dennis Bible. I came here with a very positive feeling towards a company, that were turned the other direction by reading that manufacturers forum, believe it or not. Many QC complaints about that company have also resulted in my stance that I'll not buy one new. Might buy one used, if I truly trusted the seller.

Gus -- maybe I read your post wrong, but I don't recall seeing very much negative about any makers knives in the custom forum. That is one of the reason I enjoy the Custom and Shop Talk forums so much. There is so much support of others by makers -- most of the time. Yes, there have been problems with the actions/personality/ethics of makers, but I don't remember complaints about knives. Then again, I hardly remember what my name was yesterday.

I've forgotten who posted in detail about the significance of Sal Glesser's participation in the SPyderco forum here -- and his own, if it wasn't mentioned. I fully agree that Sal consistently exhibits attitudes that all his peers would do well to consider emulating. I know that at least 2 knives are somewhere in the design cycle at Spyderco, because of input from forumites.

In summary, I think certain people's comments carry a lot of weight. And, I think that large groups of people sharing opinions on the forums is also very powerful.
 
When thinking about a new knife I use this forum to get the opinions of members. If I see a lot of negative comments and not many favorable ones, then I tend to back off from purchasing that knife.

What Razor posted seems to be quite correct. It appears that negative posts get more feedback than positive ones do.

When it comes to Emerson knives it amazes me that there is such a difference of opinion. It seems that as many people like(love) or dislike(hate) this brand of knives. I do not think I have seen this with any other brand.

As far as does Bladeforums have that much power that a negative review here will hurt a company, it is possible. I don't know though. I have seen terrible things posted about Frost knives(junk in my books)and they seem to be doing fine. Bladeforums does have some effect I am sure, but I doubt that it is that much.
 
It is funny that this topic came up here, because the subject was actually broached over one of Cliff's recent reviews. The person representing the knife felt that Cliff's review was unfair, due to comparisons to knives of a different class. He felt that due to the unfair comparison, sales would likely be impacted. At the time I argued that the reader of the review would be able to sort through the comparisons and if the knife represented a good value sales would not be impacted. - Now I am not sure.

I hadn't really thought about those people who have little or no opportunity to see or handle knives in person. Despite living in Norway (where knives are ludicrously expensive) I've been fortunate enough to travel some, and many major airports have tax/duty free knife shops, and I usually find a knife shop in any major city I travel to.

Still, I definately take into account the feedback on the forums, and put it into different catagories. If the feedback is negative about a retailer/seller of knives, particularly if there are a few complaints (that I see as justified) I take it as golden, because their are plenty of choices of places to buy a commodity.

If the feedback is about a product itself, then I am much more critical and look at exactly what the person didn't like to see if it is relavent to me. I generally ignore negative feedback which isn't specific. I also look at the response to negative feedback to see if it seems like an isolated incident.

Ultimately, as someone mentioned already though - if I am really curious about something, I'll probably buy it regardless. Something about the monkey reaching into the hole for the shiny coin ...
 
Hello
From my personal experience, positive feedback posted in the Foruns aways help a lot.
fortunatelly, I have not been a victim of negative feedback yet to see the other side...
 
David, thanks a lot for very interesting thread!
Probably I could discuss this topic endlessly but to do not bore anyone deadly I'll try just to answer your questions.

Yes, the Forum has great power. So large amount of members (11.000 plus and God knows how many non-posting readers), each of them has at least some knives and even more is going to buy. This could be an equivalent of 100.000 or more non-enthusiast buyers who buy one, two knives to meet their real needs and stop at this point.
Additionally one knife enthusiast can influence decisions of at least several non-enthusiast people around him being considered as knife expert, no matter real or imagined. Here are also some professional writers who can express their opinion (influenced here) through another media around the world. Speaking just about myself - I'm writing (and even sometimes being published ;)) in three languages, so the number of readers can reach millions...

Well, about single negative (or positive) post influence on myself. Chuck pointed very well about the source, but I wold like to add something. Who posted negative (or positive) opinion is less important for me than how clear and justified this opinion is. Posts like "Hey Guys, what a cool knife!" or "Hey Guys, what a junk knife!" are worth almost nothing for me. But if someone, no matter well-known or completely unknown, expresses his or her opinion supporting it with justification I can understand and accept - in this case even the single post is worth to take it into consideration.
And oppositely, if someone, no matter how known, points something what is completely unfair and unscientific in my opinion - the name can't overweight the sense of the post for me.

Yes, multiple posts in the same issues are worth more for me but with the same limitation - if these posts are justified enough to take them as reliable info. Sometimes one, two, more fellows start to cry - XYZ knives are junk, they are dull, wrong way heat treated, break apart in the hands etc., etc., etc. In this case my first question would be "Why didn't you send them back to manufacturer for repairing or replacing?" Completely another matter is if someone clearly specifies the problem (self-falling out screws for ex.), states that he (or she) have sent the knife to manufacturer, waited months and when got the knife back with no repair or replacement. Especially if there are more such posts from different fellows and about different issues of the same manufacturer... In this case it seems worth for me to think hard do I want to have something common with this manufacturer or not. Especially taking into consideration mine (and yours) oversea location and sending forwards-backwards expenses.

No, for me even all together Forumite's opinion can't overweight my own experience. I believe my eyes, hands and common sense more than all another sources together. Nor knife is so accomplished thing neither I'm considering myself so silly (two high schools graduated, including one technical) to believe that black is white or inversely just because someone, even very knowledgeable and respectable states this.
Please don't get this like self-praising or statement that I'm the smartest man in the world. I'm learning a lot each day, also here, at the Forums and I'm adding this to my knowledge and common sense. The man is convicted to learn during entire life and to dead being silly.
But I never try to replace my knowledge and common sense with someone's opinion!

OK, nearest time to end ;)
Please take also into consideration Russian proverb what could be translated in English like - good fame lies but the bad one - runs.
 
Originally posted by David1967

In recent discussion about Emerson Don Rearic says: "That is the power of a Forum in the negative, to take business away from a Manufacturer for "past sins.""....

I think it is questionable what does more damage, a negative post, criticising the particular defect, or a fan(s) of the same maker who think that their only duty (besides worshiping the maker) is to bash and demean everyone who dares to criticize their favorite maker :(

My question is - Is BF really that powerful? To take business away from manufacturers, knifemakers, dealers or even occasional sellers?
I think it mostly depends on their own doings. Benchmade gets lots of critics, so is the Cold Steel, and I think most of it is deserved, so what? Doesn't look like anyone's going out of business.

Do you base your decisions on just one single negative thread (or post)?
Never. Whether positive or negative.

Do you do search to find all relevant info regarding particular knife (company, dealer etc.)? Is negative feedback on BF more important for you than your own experience?
Well, it's more of an additional info to my own experience.

Would you just say: "No, I am not even going to touch the knife - it is piece of junk - I´ve just read it on BF."
Depends. If enough number of ppl are stating the same, why to ignore?
If I have a chance to try it out, I may, out of curiosity.
 
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